My Taurus 941 and their less than enthusiactic customer service...

[WifeofBleys]

If it is an ejector star issue, could that be repaired by someone other than Taurus? Can you tell I really don't want to send my gun back?? Photos are coming...

 

[couldbeanyone]

Yea Clem, it would help a lot if they would pay only a little more attention to detail at the factory. These are basically solid little guns and a lot of the problems people have are caused by minor things that can be easily fixed. Why Taurus lets such minor things cause problems when only a little more attention on assembly would cure it is beyond me. I shoot at least 750 rounds through one of my 94's every time I go to the range and they have held up well. What initial problems I have ever had were either cured by a little fluff and buff or at most the replacement of a $4.00 part. Oh well, off my soap box and off to bed.

 

[WifeofBleys]

Photo



Here's what the ejector star and empty cylinder look like.

 

[couldbeanyone]

Wifeofbleys, the ejector star is easily replaced and is not an expensive part. I have never sent a gun to Taurus as I don't think they will give it the attention to detail a gunsmith or I would. P.M. me and I will get back to you tomorrow if you have any questions or want to try changing the ejector yourself.

 

[joe_security]

WifeofBleys: Maybe at some point in the future consider an S&W 351 PD Airlite if a good .22 mag is important to you. 7 shot, recessed chambers, hiviz front sight. Not cheap at about $600 online. No doubt S&W pays the shipping both ways and likely a fast turn around compared to Tauras. I understand many do fine with Tauras, I just think you are best served with S&W in the long run.

 

[joe_security]

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=214293349

How about this one? Check out that trick muzzle crown in pic 12. It gives the badguy the impression that you are pointing something larger than .22 at him.

 

[woad_yurt]

There is no law stating that you have to ship it overnight or let FedEx know that it is a firearm, that's just FedEx company regulations. Just pack it beforehand, show up at the FedEx shipping hub, hand it to them, and ship it 2nd Day Air. If they ask what it is, tell them "machined parts."

Animal Mother,
I hate to burst your bubble but there is most definitely a federal law. You're advising folks to commit a felony.

From the ATF's own site:

http://www.atf.gov/firearms/faq/unlicensed-persons.html#shipping-firearms-carrier

Q: May a nonlicensee ship a firearm by common or contract carrier?

A nonlicensee may ship a firearm by a common or contract carrier to a resident of his or her own State or to a licensee in any State. A common or contract carrier must be used to ship a handgun. In addition, Federal law requires that the carrier be notified that the shipment contains a firearm and prohibits common or contract carriers from requiring or causing any label to be placed on any package indicating that it contains a firearm.

[18 U.S.C. 922(a)(2)(A), 922(a) (3), 922(a)(5) and 922(e), 27 CFR 478.31 and 478.30]

WifeofBleys:
Any FFL dealer can use the postal service to ship a handgun. If you are up a creek and if it turns out that you must send it back to Taurus, the dealer who sold it to you can mail it back for less than $10.00. If the people at the shop are at all ethical, they won't charge you anything above that for doing so. Actually, they should just mail it back on their own dime because, after all, they did sell you a bum gun. I would guess that a return from a dealer would maybe get a little more attention from Taurus anyway because, to them, alienating one of their distributors would be more costly than alienating a mere single-purchase customer.

Not to depress but you may be waiting for a long time. I have a friend who has twice sent off the same gun to Taurus only to get it back with the problem still un-fixed. After 8 months of frustration, he just gave up. Good luck with this. You're not alone.

 

[Animal Mother]

Fair enough, I was mistaken. I've removed the applicable section of the offending post.

 

[NMGonzo]

no one inspects the merchandise before buying anymore?

 

[gofastman]

I sent my 94 in for repair.
They paid shipping both ways and it was back in my hands in about 10 days.

They have very strange customer service, some people working for them are rude and don't know their arse from their elbow, while others are very friendly, knowledgeable and helpful.

 

[PapaG]

Take it back to the shop where you bought it and ask them to contact Taurus for authorization to ship back for repairs. THen have the shop send it back. We seem to be doing this quite often (wonder why) and the turnaround is fairly quick, normally about two weeks.

The small frame Tauruses are tied for first in our records for returns to factory for repair of original defects....along with SCCY and the Sig Mosquito. They all seem to finally get it right but why can't they do it right the first time?

 

[clem]

no one inspects the merchandise before buying anymore?

A lot of these defects mentioned are NOT noticable. They are operating issues. Also, these are NEW guns for the most part. There should be NO problems with them.

 

[WifeofBleys]

While I agree that the problems I'm having aren't "noticeable", they may have been noticed if Taurus took any time at all test firing the gun. After all, when I first fired the gun, I believe I fired a total of 13 rounds before the gun jammed. The shop where we purchased the gun has been very accommodating, telling us that if a change in ammo didn't help the situation we should bring it back to the shop and that it may need to go back for repair. I believe, (if trying Remington doesn't work either), we will go the route of sending the gun back through the LGS we bought it from. It makes sense that we would receive much better service that way...Taurus wouldn't want to lose a distributor, I would hope.

 

[cpirtle]

Based on the pictures I see a few thins that can be a potential problem, but hard to say.

What's the silver pin at the 8:00 spot, a pin or a ball bearing?

I see at least 4 spots where the extractor is above the cylinder. That could mean you have a bent extractor star or the pin it rides on could be bent. This could have happened by having to push too hard to extract spent casings or been like that from the start.

Can he shoot a picture directly through the chambers in the cylinder?

Here's my final thoughts..

After shooting X number of bullets the chambers started to foul to the point where some cartridges locked in. While trying to extract those spent cartridges that extractor bent downward toward the side of the bound cartridges, forcing the opposing side upward. Now when you shoot the high side is binding as it rotates up into the firing position.

Unless you hit it really hard to trying to eject the spent cartridges this part should not have bent. Inferior metal, bad heat treat, we'll never really know the cause.

Maybe for kick's some day I'll hardness test the extractor star on a Smith and one on a Taurus to see if there's a difference..

By the way, techinically the chambers are rebated (recessed), they just did them all at once as opposed to doing each one. See the large outer ring on the cyl.? That is the recess the ammo guy told you about.

 

[H. Faversham]

WifeofBleys, you know how, in the long run, it hurts less to take a bandage off with one, fast pull? Well here it is: Your particular Taurus is junk! It will be junk even if you have it fixed. They have your money; end of story.

Many Taurus weapons are junk, and many gunsmiths will not waste your money "fixing" them. It's not your fault, it's the fault of Taurus. Their "service" is not representative of the industry. Why do you think their prices are so low?

You will only wind up with ulcers if you try to have your 941 fixed or wonder how Taurus stays in business. Trust me; I've been shooting for over half of a century and Taurus "service" for many years has been an embarrassment to the industry. We all learn the hard way.

You should have had enough of them by now, so stop taking the bandage off one hair at a time to prolong the pain. Remember, it is not your fault. Get rid of it, now, in what ever way you please, and buy a S&W or even a Ruger. Both of those real gun makers will bend over backwards to make you happy.

 

[WifeofBleys]

Can he shoot a picture directly through the chambers in the cylinder?

I will have my husband take the photo as soon as possible.

Unless you hit it really hard to trying to eject the spent cartridges

No, we didn't hit it hard at all. Though some cases did stick, they weren't that difficult to remove.

What's the silver pin at the 8:00 spot, a pin or a ball bearing?

Not sure if it is a pin or ball bearing. Will have to ask my husband as he would know more than me.

Thank you for your perspective, cpirtle!

 

[WifeofBleys]

What's the silver pin at the 8:00 spot, a pin or a ball bearing?

My husband said he is sure that is a pin.

Here is the photo you requested, directly through the chambers:

 

[mdThanatos]

It's probably the alignment pin that is on the ejector star.

 

[cpirtle]

That's what I was thinking too but I don't have one to compare.

Check out the marked up image I loaded. First, the upper pin (arrow) looks like it has a burr, is in an elongated hole probably from being punched off center.

Then, look at the two circles in the upper section how they appear elevated with a larger gap between the extractor and the cyl. Then look at the lower circles opposite, they look tight to the cyl and to be flush or slightly below the surface.

It's possible the extractor is bent or if there's a burr under the upper pin that they screwed up punching in it could be holding the extractor up on that side.

How about pushing up the extractor and looking/feeling the underside below the ugly pin to see if there's a large burr or over punch that's preventing the extractor from going down all of the way.

 

[WifeofBleys]

Thanks for the suggestions, cpirtle. My husband examined the ejector star and neither felt nor saw any burrs.

 

[gadget111]

My 941 did the exact same thing. It's still a work in progress but I like working on it. Check rugerforum.com for how to dis assemble an 85 (exact same dis assembly). When it binds up, usually when it heats up, clean under the ejection star with a tooth brush. My underside of the star was very rough and I smoothed it with a Dremel. I also read that the firing pin hits so hard that it sticks in the shell which causes binding. I cut one coil off the stock hammer spring and polished the spring rod mirror smooth. Now a VERY good trigger. Hope this helps. Bruce

 

[gadget111]

Sorry, that's taurusarmed.net. I also put in a Wulf trigger spring ( you have to cut off a coil or two) also tried the hammer spring but had many FTF. The trigger spring worked great. I use gray wall anchors as snap caps a lot. Watch the face of the cylinder for carbon build up. the fit at the forcing cone is very close. Again I use an old tooth brush. I use a Dremel with the smallest polishing wheel and then cut even smaller and metal polish on the inside of the chambers. Hopps does not clean it well enough. I'm determined I'm going to resolve this. Bruce

 

[WifeofBleys]

gadget111,

I appreciate your responses. My husband and I were discussing what you suggested. I understand that getting the gun too hot is not a good thing...but, at most, we shoot 50 rounds through it at a time. We don't shoot fast and we don't shoot all 50 rounds at once. We shoot our other firearms in between, so not one thing gets used all of the time. So, IMO, heating isn't an issue. Also, even when the gun is cold, it looks like the ejector star isn't lined up correctly, as shown in the photos in this thread. I am not certain of the firing pin sticking, though that could very well be a problem. While I appreciate the website and dis-assembly suggestions, I think we will leave that to the pros.

I hope you are able to get your 941 issues resolved as well.

 

[gadget111]

Good luck. Nothing wrong with letting a pro do it. There are a lot of tiny parts inside. Scared me the first time I opened it. I really like everything else about this gun and I may now have it right, just need to find time to get to the range. Bruce

 

[CHEVELLE427]

FYI last hand gun my dealer mailed off for me cost me $7.50 so someone is blowing smoke to u.

most u should have to pay is around $25 to have a ffl ship it, not sure but i think you can mail a gun back to factory, also not sure if you can use the USPS, but the BATF site should have the answer